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‘It was time’

Barb Ries is retiring after 40 years working at Jim’s Market in Canby

Photo by Jim Muchlinski Barb Ries greets well-wishers during her retirement party held at Jim’s Market in Canby.

CANBY — For more than 40 years, Barb Ries looked forward to getting up in the early morning hours to start her daily work routine at Jim’s Market.

Ries is retiring from the locally-owned supermarket, located on the north side of Canby along U.S. Highway 75, after a 40-year tenure that started Dec. 1, 1978. She enjoyed her days in the bakery enough to make it part of her routine more than 20 years after the standard retirement age.

“I’d been thinking about retiring, and I decided it was time,” Ries said. “I’m getting close to 90. It will be good to have a little more time to relax.”

Ries said she’s always enjoyed being around people, helping others, and providing products that bakery customers repeatedly select from a wide assortment of options in the Jim’s Market bakery case.

Besides her job, she’s been consistently active as a cook and baker at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Canby. She also has a longstanding track record as an active, hard-working community volunteer.

Originally from the Clear Lake and Gary, South Dakota area about 15 miles west of Canby, Ries and her husband Barney have a long history in Canby’s grocery business.

He became an employee of Jim’s Market founder Jim Huber in 1972 after working in a former co-op grocery store. At the time, Jim’s Market was located in a smaller building in Canby’s downtown business district.

Barb joined the staff six years later. Since then she’s seen many changes in the equipment available for state of the art commercial bakeries. She’s also noticed changes in what’s most popular among customers, both an interest in new kinds of baked goods not traditionally made in the upper Midwest and a continued appreciation for longstanding traditions.

“I’ve kept up with it,” Ries said. “I enjoy trying new things when I bake. It’s all based on having the same kind of skills and experience.”

She said one thing that’s never changed is the pleasure she’s had from interacting with Canby area customers. Most of them are familiar faces, and some are children and grandchildren of customers her own age who she served early in her career.

“I never had a day when I didn’t want to get out of bed and go to work,” Ries said. “Every morning was a chance to enjoy my baking. It was also always a pleasure to see people who stop in to shop.”

For much of her 40 years at Jim’s Market, she started each workday at about 3:30 a.m. then worked until she was done, which often added up to about a 10 to 12 hour shift.

She said she’s cut back in recent years, but that the responsibility and social interaction that goes with a job made her not want to stop entirely. One reason was that her husband died 12 years ago. By working, she rarely spent entire days at home by herself.

That’s no longer a factor since she moved to the Sylvan Place Assisted Living Center in Canby during the past year.

“I love it there,” she said. “We have some dedicated card players, and I’ve always liked card games. All I have to do is step outside my door and I’ll see neighbors.”

A retirement open house was held April 26 at Jim’s Market in her honor. Guests packed the parking lot, some to just wish her the best and others to do the same and also shop for groceries.

Mildred Gubrud, a regular Jim’s Market customer and a former neighbor down the street from Ries, said people will remember Barb for her many years behind the bakery counter.

“She’ll be missed,” Gubrud said. “It’s a great bakery, but it won’t be exactly the same without her. We’re looking forward to seeing her at the store when she’s shopping.”

Owner Paul Huber, who kept the name Jim’s Market in honor of his father after taking over the business, said Ries has always been an outstanding employee because of her friendliness, reliability, and strong work ethic.

“She’s a very important part of what’s made our business successful,” Huber said. “Barb has been like a mother to many of our younger employees for many years.”

A group of her family members drove to Canby to participate in the open house. One of her nieces, Donna Zinter of Watertown, South Dakota, said Barb’s family thinks of her the same way as her Jim’s Market customers.

She’s seen as a legendary baker, a great cook, and most importantly a valuable source of support for hundreds of relatives and friends.

“She’s like none other,” Zinter said. “It goes far beyond her baking. She’s just always there for us.”

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